


Merit

by Deniera



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mild Gore, Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:18:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deniera/pseuds/Deniera
Summary: After a miserable day out on a hunt, Prompto seriously doubts his value to their group.





	Merit

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the majority of this at the airport and on the plane on my phone, and then made the rest up at home. Initially I wanted to go for some ot4, but somehow, this feels like it fits the story better. 
> 
> Let me kno what you think :3
> 
> Not beta read.

 

Prompto swallowed hard, frozen on the passenger seat in his hunched position while the others left the car. Ignis locked the doors and took the key, but the top was still open - Prompto could still climb out if he wanted. If.

At the moment he felt more like staying here forever; maybe he could just sleep on the backseats or something. Anything but facing the men he was travelling with - anything but wasting even more money on a hotel room or food for him when he had cost them all so much already on this journey.

The car crash was one thing. It had been stupid, he knew that, and though it was the most expensive incident so far, he regretted it the least. It had been to rescue a small life.

It was his fault they had lost so much money with that, but he failed to feel any shame for it (or just very little), kind of convinced that at least Noctis would have done the same - Ignis and Gladio too, probably, though with less serious damage on the car perhaps.

But everything after that… he whined and skidded down his seat a little more.

All the potions and elixirs he had needed so far.

The phoenix downs.

God, he was pathetic.

By now he had probably used more of the precious feathers than all of his friends combined and the amount of times Ignis had to remind them to replenish their curatives just because Prompto went through them so quickly made him sick.

And still, the others weren’t saying anything. Quite literally. The whole way back to the hotel had been in silence, and although there were no accusations from them, this silent treatment was far worse. He’d rather have them talk; to him, over him, about him, didn’t matter, as long as there were words he could concentrate on, busy himself with replying, something, anything to keep him from thinking about his repeated failure.

But they hadn’t. And so he was alone with his thoughts and alone in the car, outside, with another cold Duscaen night quickly approaching as the last rays of sunlight disappeared somewhere behind the mountains.

He slowly raised his arm, examining it carefully. The hit had been a complete surprise, blunt force punching the air out of his lungs and bringing him hard to the ground. He hadn’t had a second to react before pain had exploded in his upper arm, sharp, huge teeth ripping through flesh and muscle, crushing the bone between powerful jaws like it was nothing. He remembered the disgusting crunch, the wet chewing, how he could feel the beast breathing heavily and his own blood pounding in his ears before someone-something ripped it away from in and he fell into darkness.

  
He had been shocked awake with the sensation of tingly cold rushing over and through him from a spot on his chest, where the icy feeling was concentrated and stung into his skin. Grabbing the spot with his hand he had felt the by now very familiar feeling of soft feathers which would bring him back onto his feet.

He had no idea which one of his friends had managed to get to him and jam the quill of the phoenix down into his skin, so an initial surge of healing magic would pull him back into consciousness and give him the ability to grab and dissolve the rest of the soft material in his hand, from where it would heal him enough to be ready to continue the battle.

It had taken another elixir and potion to keep him up and going against that beast - Prompto shivered. He hated coeurls.

He still had no idea why Noctis had been so keen to hunt one of those fuckers in particular - there were many other hunts available, easier ones that would still get them some cash.

That coeurl had brought in nothing so far. They had killed it, but Noct did not seem happy and had ordered them away from that god forsaken place, just in time as Gladio had spotted another beast in the distance.

The way back had been quiet already, Noctis brooding, Ignis and Gladio tensed and Prompto still sore from the attack that had brought him down.

Once in the Regalia, Ignis had decided to immediately go for the next hotel, no complaints whatsoever from the backseat. Prompto hadn’t really been in the mood to say anything then.

Now he was here, eyes squeezed shut at the memories of the fight and feeling terrible with this messed up situation. Prompto did not know if the coeurl was worth enough to cover for the curatives he had used in the fight, or if it was worth anything at all - maybe they needed to kill some more for the hunt to be successful.

He shuddered at the thought, feeling nausea rising at the memory of his bones crunching and breaking as if they were a toothpick.

Breathing in deeply he opened his eyes again to realise that his slow breath out created little white puffs of air in front of his face. He looked around the parking lot, empty at this time and illuminated by the blue-ish daemon-repellent lights.   
It looked grotesque.

He was tempted to take his camera out and look for a good spot to capture the otherworldly atmosphere when a hand touched the cold, tender skin of his healed arm. Prompto jumped and yelped, eyes wide as he yanked his head around to whoever had come to him.

It was Ignis.

He looked like an epiphany, the way he was standing in front of the lights, blue rays surrounding him and his face barely illuminated - Prompto forgot how to breathe.

Ignis remained silent for some more time, hovering over Prompto and just examining him with a soft expression. It would have been scary if his body heat would not have been pleasantly warming Prompto a little bit. He leaned into it.

“Would you like to come in?” the deep, smooth voice of Ignis inquired quietly.

Prompto blushed and looked down, making a non-committal sound. Ignis was quiet again, both of them seemingly frozen in place.

“It became cold quickly, did it not?” Ignis said, adjusting his glasses. “I certainly did not expect the temperature to drop this rapidly. You ought to come in soon, before you catch a cold.”

Prompto winced at the thought. A cold meant feeling even shittier, a cold meant he needed medication. Curatives. Time to rest, money they needed to spend on a place to rest.

No way in the world would he want to get sick now. No way. But getting up… getting up and inside meant he would have to deal with Noctis and Gladio, too.

He swallowed.

After another moment in silence and motionless, Ignis’ hand returned to is exposed skin, spreading warmth and comfort.

“Please come out of the car, Prompto.”

Swallowing again, he collected himself shortly before pushing up, swinging a leg over the door or the Regalia to slowly get out, landing next to Ignis.

Warmth returned as soon as he had both feet on the floor, but this time Ignis put his hand on the small of Prompto’s back, heat radiating through the thin fabric of his shirt and jacket, spreading all over Prompto’s body.

It was so comforting and nice and Ignis was suddenly so close to him and looked at him with such a gentle expression that Prompto felt even worse about himself.

How was Ignis not mad?

“I’m sorry,” Prompto mumbled, staring pointedly onto the dark concrete of the parking lot. “For today, I mean. I-” He swallowed. “I know the phoenix are expensive and I didn’t pay enough attention and-”

“No,” Ignis interrupted him. “You have nothing to apologise for. You are the least trained and experienced of us-”

That hurt.

“-thus _we_ are at fault of miscalculating the risks of this hunt. Noctis in particular, he was the one who kept pushing us to go find a cactuar.”

Wait, what?

“A cactuar?” Prompto said. “I went down for a cactuar? I thought we were hunting coeurls!”

Ignis adjusted his glasses again, lips thin. “Yes, I also heard that just before we were attacked by that coeurl. Apparently Gladio and he went and heard about a special hunt, and coincidentally this cactuar was seen in the coeurl territory.”

It was silent for a beat, and then Prompto cursed, loud. “Dude, we didn’t even see one! Did you see one?”

Ignis shook his head.

“That-” Prompto sputtered, “that means all of this was for nothing?” He crouched down, pulling his hair.

“I am afraid yes.”

A long moan escaped him. That had been a fine waste of curatives.

“You do see my point, though? No one told you or gave you the opportunity to chose whether you would like to participate or not.”

“Dude, I would _never_ leave y'all go alone!”

Ignis shot him a pointed look. “And yet you sit here outside by yourself, probably musing about how valuable are to our group, do you not?”

“Uh…” Prompto had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

Ignis smirked and shook his head. “However. If you had voiced any serious concerns, which I am very sure you would, I think Noctis might have re-evaluated. He is concerned with your well-being and he was very upset with you suffering from this heavy attack.”

Prompto hid his face again. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“No.” Ignis replied. “You are not the one responsible for this situation.”

Prompto felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He shivered and swallowed before he slowly stood up and gave Ignis a weak smile. “Do you have any food inside?”

Ignis looked him up and down and then allowed Prompto to see one of his rare smiles. “I might have been able to organise some meat pies.” Prompto beamed. “Of course they will not be of the refined quality you are used to from my cooking, but... I suppose they will do for tonight.”

With a light push to his shoulder, where the warmth of Ignis’ hand was still spreading through him, Prompto was made to get moving towards the dimly lit motel. He was still afraid of the atmosphere in the room they would probably share again tonight, but somehow it felt that at least Ignis was on his side and would support him through it. He could do it.

“Iggy?”, Prompto said, unsure of the idea forming in his head.

“Yes?”

“How can I get- better?” A shudder rippled through him. Ignis’ hand clenched around his shoulder, drawing him closer to the taller man.

“What do you mean, exactly?”, Ignis said.

Prompto sighed, feeling himself relax into the familiar scent and body heat. “I don’t... want to be like this,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to be the one who uses the majority of our curatives, always. I don’t want to be the reason we can’t take on certain hunts or do certain things.” He gave a weak laugh. “It kinda sucks, you know.”

Ignis sighed and nodded. “Prompto. I am not going to pretend that I know what you are going through, but please know you have my sympathy. It is a fact that your training was very short and concise, compared to Noct, Gladio and me. You lack the experience which comes with years of training in almost every aspect of physical combat, and you are not going to catch up to us just like that.”

Prompto deflated, swallowing around the lump in his throat.

“But,” Ignis smiled, “you are intelligent.”

Prompto looked up, surprised. “Huh?”

Suddenly they stood face to face, a serious expression on Ignis’ face. Prompto felt his heart beating in his throat.

“You are intelligent,” Ignis said again.”If you tried to excel at every single aspect that comes with fighting, it would take you years – as it would take everyone else. But.”

This was important somehow, Prompto thought, mouth dry. Both of Ignis’ hands were holding him in place and he couldn’t look away.

“You are quick to pick things up. You may not see it, but you have made tremendous progress already. A lot of your actions have already become less of a conscious thought and more like a natural reaction – which is good. You know how to naturally fall with the least amount of damage to your body, you know where your position on most battlegrounds should be, you know where to shoot a lot of enemies to maximise the damage you make – all of this required a lot more conscious effort for you when we had just left Insomnia.”

Prompto swallowed. “But I’m still not good enough.”

He yelped when Ignis suddenly shook him lightly. “Because the goals you set for yourself are unfeasible, Prompto. You have to be realistic with what you can do in the time we have.”

They stared at each other, both seemingly at a loss for words at the moment.

Then Ignis coughed. “What I initially wanted to say.” He had an upset line to his mouth. “Is that we could try to focus on very few things to teach you. If you would like some extra training, that is, at camp in the evening or morning for example.”

Prompto’s eyes widened and then he nodded furiously. “I want. I’d like. You have something in mind?”

Ignis’ expression softened, as did the grip around Prompto’s shoulders. “Just a rough idea. If you concentrate on a handful of elements, you should be able to make fast progress, especially when you can train with both the three of us and actual enemies.”

“The three of you?” Prompto said. “You think they’ll get in, too?”

Ignis huffed. “Of course they will.” Suddenly his hand was cupping Prompto’s jaw, thumb gently stroking over his cheekbone. Prompto felt himself blush. Ignis had come very close.

“None of us want you hurt, Prompto,” he said.

Prompto couldn’t look away. He smiled instead and leaned into the warmth on his face. “Thank you, Iggy.” He took a step closer. “I appreciate it.”

For a moment it seemed as if there was no oxygen between them; as if everything had suddenly stilled, motionless, soundless. They stood close, looking at each other, breathless, Prompto on the tips of his toes, and then, after what felt like minutes frozen in time

They met.

It was still silent. Not a sound was made when Ignis curled his arms around Prompto, resting his hands on his lower back; when Prompto mirrored him, slumping against Ignis, falling into the kiss. They were standing in the deserted gallery of the motel, in plain view if someone would bother to open a door and come out. A light breeze made Prompto shiver.

He felt good.

 

 

 


End file.
